You mean after the US gov't puts a spin on finding no evidence of WMD?
I wasn't referring to Israel as the "foreign policy" problems, but more America's heavy-handed way of dealing with other countries in the world, in which Israel is only a small part. This assumption that other countries should want to be like America cannot possibly be good for America or the rest of the world, and that attitude is what people resent.
I agree - Bin Laden should not dictate American policy. But let's face facts here: a terrorist attack happened against the US. Why did it happen? Because the terrorists involved hate America. How do you prevent future terrorist attacks? Stop the hatred. How do you stop the hatred? I don't have the answer for that one - but I don't think declaring war against other countries is the answer.
The US has some problems under its belt - as anup has pointed out before, America has taken out honest democratic leaders and put in their place its own America-friendly democratic leaders. Funny - I'd always thought democracy meant the people and leaders of democratic nations could like or dislike whatever they want - including America. But perhaps those were mistakes of a past America - I certainly hope so, and I'm willing to give that the benefit of the doubt.
But my objection is in how this war has been presented: as a way to stop terrorism. How is attacking Iraq - which has little terrorism connection aside from a bit of terrorist sympathy - going to stop terrorism? By the time the US has started a war with a country, the terrorist factions present in that country are already long-gone. Many of the terrorists involved in 9/11 had been living in the US - not Iraq, Iran, North Korea, or Afghanistan - for years. That said, I don't think America is a bad place, I don't think America deserved terrorist attacks, and I don't think America's war against Iraq is a bad thing. The world could definitely use fewer brutal dictators! But present it as a war to try to make the world a better place, rather than a war to prevent terrorism, because I think it will have little effect on terrorism - one way or the other.
Jason Rhinelander
Gossamer Threads
jason@gossamer-threads.com
I wasn't referring to Israel as the "foreign policy" problems, but more America's heavy-handed way of dealing with other countries in the world, in which Israel is only a small part. This assumption that other countries should want to be like America cannot possibly be good for America or the rest of the world, and that attitude is what people resent.
I agree - Bin Laden should not dictate American policy. But let's face facts here: a terrorist attack happened against the US. Why did it happen? Because the terrorists involved hate America. How do you prevent future terrorist attacks? Stop the hatred. How do you stop the hatred? I don't have the answer for that one - but I don't think declaring war against other countries is the answer.
The US has some problems under its belt - as anup has pointed out before, America has taken out honest democratic leaders and put in their place its own America-friendly democratic leaders. Funny - I'd always thought democracy meant the people and leaders of democratic nations could like or dislike whatever they want - including America. But perhaps those were mistakes of a past America - I certainly hope so, and I'm willing to give that the benefit of the doubt.
But my objection is in how this war has been presented: as a way to stop terrorism. How is attacking Iraq - which has little terrorism connection aside from a bit of terrorist sympathy - going to stop terrorism? By the time the US has started a war with a country, the terrorist factions present in that country are already long-gone. Many of the terrorists involved in 9/11 had been living in the US - not Iraq, Iran, North Korea, or Afghanistan - for years. That said, I don't think America is a bad place, I don't think America deserved terrorist attacks, and I don't think America's war against Iraq is a bad thing. The world could definitely use fewer brutal dictators! But present it as a war to try to make the world a better place, rather than a war to prevent terrorism, because I think it will have little effect on terrorism - one way or the other.
Jason Rhinelander
Gossamer Threads
jason@gossamer-threads.com
